Lost 6.5k in less than two weeks

Hi Shearer09, welcome to the Forum,

What you have to question my friend, is do you actually, genuinely like and enjoy the sport if you cannot watch it without having a bet?

I gambled for twenty years before stopping over five years ago; it didn't matter what it was - you could up the entertainment factor of just about anything, even things like Eurovision Voting or Virtual Greyhound Racing, if you chose to.

Since stopping, I still watch sport but there is no fervant need or borderline obsession - if they banned gambling, worldwide, tomorrow, then you would have no choice but to do the same without any prosect of placing a bet - how would it make you feel?

Forget about sport as an entity my friend - it is the act itself that is the problem; if you win, then is only makes you crave more of the same at higher stakes (leaving previous, smaller stakes redundant), which invaribaly leads to losing. If you lose, then you face soul-wrenching desperation and heartache to regain what you have thrown away, which invariably leads you to spending money you don't have.

Nothing you ever do will ever change that lose-lose scenario my friend - accept it, live with it and move on with your life. That 6000 may seem like a lot, but it will be a drop in the ocean compared to what you could lose, and what you could lose in the coming years; I started off playing 2p machines, and ended up losing 8000 in half an hour on one occasion - it is a long, painful, slippery slope my friend; what you have been through and experienced could be just the tip of the iceberg.

It has to be zero tolerance from this point onwards my friend - it isn't about the size of the stake, but how it will make you feel and what it will lead to. Compulsive gamblers can never gamble because they don't know how they will act and react on any given day; a "near miss", or so-called perceived "bad luck" is almost always going to send you spiralling out of control - even if it doesn't on that occasion, then you can almost guarantee that is will the next time round.

Draw a line under this, and the 6000 my friend; if you stop now, for good, it will be the best investment that you will ever make in your life. If you don't want to feel regret, then make it mean something, let it represent the time when you said enough is enough, and turned your life around.

JamesP

I used to do a lot of online gambling on my phone and laptop. However since I installed K9 on both this has stopped however a year later I find myself going to the casino wasting money.

Today I have made a step to change my life. I've self excluded myself from my gambling haunts. A bit embrassing yes but not as embrassing as I could possibly end up homeless, on the bankrupt register.

IMy advice would be to ban yourself from the bookies and exclude yourself from all gambling sites.

I pray the day this world is not bet orientated.

Regards

Matt

Thanks guys for the welcome and for sharing your experiences. Yes I now need to tackle HOW to stop gambling when football or tennis is available to me to watch and to just watch it as a spectacle. I could easily watch a movie and try to avoid any sporting event but of course some games I do want to watch. Is the easiest way to self exclude myself from ALL gambling sites? I work in a town centre so bookmakers are around. How did you suddenly stop all gambling? This is what I need to learn to do.

Sorry what is k9?

I never have an interest in scratch cards, fruit machines, quiz machines or visiting casino's - it is purely online betting on mainly football and tennis that is my problem, although I have bet on darts, snooker and horses.

Hi Shearer,

Your problem is almost identical to my own. My problem gambling has just come to a head and i've had to admit the issues i have to my wife.

My main concern with trying to quit is that i also mainly bet on football and tennis, with a few other sports thrown in. These days i don't seem to be able to watch a football match without putting some money on it. I've been following football for about 30 years and it's killing me the thought of perhaps not watching it anymore in order to curb my gambling habit.

I don't have many things in life i enjoy, but football is one of them (gambling aside), but i just don't see how i can enjoy it anymore without placing a bet. Also, there's the 'small' matter of the non-stop gambling adverts before, during and after the games.

Yes it is tough. After posting on here last week I lost even more money and so wish I could turn back the clock. My girlfriend and I were talking at the weekend and she mentioned how she was glad I wasn't a gambler. I then had a chat with someone at work asking if I had started to watch a DVD he lent me (I hadn't as I had been watching and betting on sports every evening) and I then feel tired as I'm staying up until silly o'clock watching and betting on meaningless South american soccer matches. I have also been checking my phone during the day at work checking on tennis match outcomes. I'm not proud of any of this behaviour and I realise it may be dull watching a match without the added excitement of a bet but today is the first day I haven't lost money and it feels great. I've seen my bank balance plummet and tonight I've watched a movie and although I have checked on some tennis matches I know that I cannot afford to lose anymore and hate that empty feeling. It will go away I know and I can maybe one day enjoy a match and the gambling feeling will be alien to me.